f Probus had now suppressed all the foreign and domestic
enemies of the state. His mild but steady administration confirmed the
reestablishment of the public tranquillity; nor was there left in the
provinces a hostile barbarian, a tyrant, or even a robber, to revive the
memory of past disorders. It was time that the emperor should revisit
Rome, and celebrate his own glory and the general happiness. The triumph
due to the valor of Probus was conducted with a magnificence suitable
to his fortune, and the people who had so lately admired the trophies of
Aurelian, gazed with equal pleasure on those of his heroic successor.
We cannot, on this occasion, forget the desperate courage of about
fourscore gladiators, reserved, with near six hundred others, for the
inhuman sports of the amphitheatre. Disdaining to shed their blood for
the amusement of the populace, they killed their keepers, broke from the
place of their confinement, and filled the streets of Rome with blood
and confusion. After an obstinate resistance, they were overpowered
and cut in pieces by the regular forces; but they obtained at least an
honorable death, and the satisfaction of a just revenge.

The military discipline which reigned in the camps of Probus was less
cruel than that of Aurelian, but it was equally rigid and exact. The
latter had punished the irregularities of the soldiers with unrelenting
severity, the former prevented them by employing the legions in constant
and useful labors. When Probus commanded in Egypt, he executed many
considerable works for the splendor and benefit of that rich country.
The navigation of the Nile, so important to Rome itself, was improved;
and temples, buildings, porticos, and palaces were constructed by the
hands of the soldiers, who acted by turns as architects, as engineers,
and as husbandmen. It was reported of Hannibal, that in order to
preserve his troops from the dangerous temptations of idleness, he had
obliged them to form large plantations of olive-trees along the coast
of Africa. From a similar principle, Probus exercised his legions in
covering with rich vineyards the hills of Gaul and Pannonia, and two
considerable spots are described, which were entirely dug and planted
by military labor. One of these, known under the name of Mount Almo, was
situated near Sirmium, the country where Probus was born, for which he
ever retained a partial affection, and whose gratitude he endeavored to
secure, by converting int